Posted Dec 11, 2009
U.S. researchers found vitamin D levels are associated with survival in lymphoma patients.
Lead investigator Dr. Matthew Drake of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said the research team tracked 374 patients enrolled in the University of Iowa /Mayo Clinic Lymphoma Specialized Program of Research Excellence, who had been diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma — a cancer of the white blood cells called lymphocytes.
The researchers found 50 percent of the patients in the study deficient in vitamin D. Those patients with deficient vitamin D levels had a 1.5-fold greater risk of disease progression and a two-fold greater risk of dying — versus patients with optimal vitamin D levels — after accounting for other patient factors associated with worse outcomes.
“These are some of the strongest findings yet between vitamin D and cancer outcome,” Drake said in a statement. “While these findings are very provocative, they are preliminary and need to be validated in other studies.”
The findings were presented in New Orleans at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.
Date: Dec 10, 2009 URL: www.upi.com